Meta launches Instagram Threads in a direct challenge to Twitter

Meta has officially debuted its Twitter-like messaging app Threads, which the institution is pitching arsenic Instagram's "text-based speech app."

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO and co-founder, announced the debut of Threads connected Wednesday, marking the authoritative merchandise of the societal networking giant's caller text-focused messaging app. Threads represents Meta's effort to seizure the question of users who person near Twitter amid the often unpredictable ownership of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

The Threads app is present disposable to download for escaped connected the Apple App Store and Google Play online store successful implicit 100 countries, Meta said successful a blog post. Threads shares Twitter's ocular aesthetic arsenic a text-based societal messaging app successful which users tin station abbreviated messages that others tin like, share, and remark upon, according to screenshots of Threads that are disposable connected Apple's App Store.

People volition beryllium capable to travel the aforesaid Threads accounts that they travel connected Instagram and reply to different nationalist posts successful a mode akin to however radical usage Twitter.

Zuckerberg said Threads had crossed 5 cardinal motion ups wrong the archetypal 4 hours.

The authoritative merchandise comes aft Instagram released connected Monday a pre-order for Threads connected the Apple App Store, which said that astatine the clip that the app was expected to debut connected July 6. Many Instagram users were besides precocious capable to obtain invitations to entree Threads from wrong their Instagram accounts.

Although Threads is linked to Instagram, with users capable to usage their existing Instagram usernames, the messaging work is simply a abstracted app that radical volition request to download.

"Threads is wherever communities travel unneurotic to sermon everything from the topics you attraction astir contiguous to what'll beryllium trending tomorrow," Instagram said successful a statement of Threads connected the Apple App Store. "Whatever it is you're funny in, you tin travel and link straight with your favourite creators and others who emotion the aforesaid things — oregon physique a loyal pursuing of your ain to stock your ideas, opinions and creativity with the world."

Meta said successful the blog station that people's idiosyncratic feeds connected the caller messaging app volition see "threads" that were posted by different users that they follow, successful summation to recommended contented shared from creators who users whitethorn not know.

People volition beryllium capable to people Threads posts that are up to 500 characters long, and portion the app is geared toward text, radical volition besides beryllium capable truthful stock links, photos and videos that tin beryllium arsenic agelong arsenic 5 minutes. Instagram users volition besides beryllium capable to stock their Threads posts via the app's communicative diagnostic successful summation to "any different level you choose," the blog station said.

Meta said that it developed Threads "with tools to alteration positive, productive conversations," and radical volition beryllium capable to negociate who is mentioning oregon is replying to them wrong the app.

"Like connected Instagram, you tin adhd hidden words to filter retired replies to your threads that incorporate circumstantial words," the blog station said. "You tin unfollow, block, restrict oregon study a illustration connected Threads by tapping the three-dot menu, and immoderate accounts you've blocked connected Instagram volition automatically beryllium blocked connected Threads."

The merchandise of Threads comes arsenic Twitter has suffered a question of mishaps nether the ownership of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, leaving the fashionable societal messaging app susceptible to competing apps.

Most recently, Musk said that Twitter users volition lone beryllium capable to spot a definite fig of Tweets per time successful an effort to woody with "extreme levels of information scraping" and "system manipulation" connected the messaging service.

Numerous Twitter users publically complained astir Musk imposing a impermanent alleged "rate limit" connected Twitter, saying that the Tweet limits marque the app a little engaging experience.

BlueSky, a rival societal messaging app that is backed by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, said that it recorded "record-high traffic" aft Musk announced the Twitter complaint limit, and it temporarily paused sign-ups to woody with the influx of caller users, who indispensable presently beryllium invited to usage the app.

Like BlueSky, Threads volition usage decentralized exertion that theoretically lets users power and negociate their information crossed different apps that incorporated the aforesaid underlying software.

Whereas BlueSky is built connected the decentralized networking exertion dubbed the AT Protocol, Threads volition yet incorporated different decentralized exertion called ActivityPub, Instagram caput Adam Mosseri said successful a Threads station connected Wednesday that was concisely disposable to the public. The ActivityPub bundle besides powers different Twitter-like messaging app called Mastadon, which has besides experienced an influx of caller users seeking an alternative to Twitter.

Mosseri said that his squad wasn't capable to see enactment for ActivityPub successful clip for Threads' authoritative merchandise due to the fact that of "a fig of complications that travel on with a decentralized network." But helium reiterated that enactment is coming.

"If you're wondering wherefore this matters, here's a reason: you whitethorn 1 time extremity up leaving Threads, or, hopefully not, extremity up de-platformed," Mosseri said. "If that ever happens, you should beryllium capable to instrumentality your assemblage with you to different server. Being unfastened tin alteration that."

Meta added successful its blog station that ActivityPub volition alteration radical without Threads accounts to presumption Threads and interact with Threads users who person nationalist profiles via different societal apps that incorporated the aforesaid decentralized technology.

"If you person a nationalist illustration connected Threads, this means your posts would beryllium accessible from different apps, allowing you to scope caller radical with nary added effort," Meta said successful the blog post. "If you person a backstage profile, you'd beryllium capable to o.k. users connected Threads who privation to travel you and interact with your content, akin to your acquisition connected Instagram."

Meta said that Threads is the company's archetypal app "envisioned to beryllium compatible with an unfastened societal networking protocol," which it believes could usher "in a caller epoch of divers and interconnected networks."

In 2019, Meta, past known arsenic Facebook, debuted a messaging app for Instagram users that was besides called Threads. Unlike the existent iteration of Threads that caters to text-based messages, the erstwhile Threads app was alternatively centered astir radical sending abbreviated video and photograph messages to their friends similar they were utilizing Snapchat.

Meta yet shuttered Threads successful 2021, and redirected radical to usage Instagram to spot each their erstwhile Threads messages.